To the girl at the gym running on the treadmill or doing all those reps with your dumb bells or kettle bells...I know why you work out so hard. In a way, I guess you can say that I’m a lot like you. I have my insecurities, and for the longest time I will admit that my body was definitely one of them. I started off as being too skinny, then being chubby; it was as if there was no balance, no in-between. I was never happy with my how my body looked.

Throughout the years, I blamed many things for my weight: my general love of food, the lack of healthy food in my surroundings, the taste of certain foods, my laziness, my self-esteem issues, my stress, I always felt like there was an excuse for my poor health choices and lack of physical activity. In time though, I realized that this only affecting the negative way in which I saw myself. I knew I had to do something about it, I tried a lot of things, the crazy diets the latest exercise crazes, and it worked for a brief period of time, until my stress continued to grow and I gave up. I never should have given up. Exercising and eating right could have helped me with my stress, but I just didn’t have the motivation.

Who could blame me or any other girl in the same situation for not having any motivation though? Society today has created this ideal body image for women that seems nearly impossible to achieve; and we all can’t simply turn to plastic surgery for the answer. Some people just can’t realize that we all can’t and don’t want to have the same body as every other woman. They expect us to all look a certain way and it causes many women to have low self-esteem and low opinions of themselves, and some of them might take DRASTIC measures just to look beautiful in someone else’s eyes. Now that I am older and starting to grow up more, I finally realize that I don’t need to meet society’s standards of beauty.

Of course, I am more active now and I make healthier choices, but I do it for ME, and me alone. I thoroughly enjoy working out; I never thought I would, but I do, and it has helped me learn things about myself. I do it because I want to be healthier, because it helps me with my stress, because it helps me boost my confidence. Girl, if you’re trying to get in shape, like me, then you should do it because YOU want to do it, because you enjoy, it, do it for you. Just remember that no matter what size you are you’re beautiful and you don’t need to be skinny, have a six pack, or a flat stomach to be beautiful. Beauty comes in all shapes and all sizes. So, get out there and show the them what you can do.